Posts Tagged ‘Damian Eargle’

Fresh off the heels of a huge victory over Butler, the Youngstown State Penguins welcomed Valparaiso to town for their second monstrous challenge in three days.  Having lost 11 in a row to the Crusaders and Valpo’s Homer Drew breathing down Jerry Slocum’s neck on the active coaches wins list, the Penguins pushed the Crusaders to overtime, but fell 86-78.

“”I am disappointed with 16 turnovers, 12 of them in the second half.  There was a four minute stretch that we didn’t even take a shot and when you are playing the best teams in the league, we can’t afford things like that”, remarked Coach Slocum after the loss.

In the first half, Youngstown State jumped out to as large as a 12 point lead and was ahead 38-33 at intermission.  Damian Eargle picked up a couple of quick fouls and only logged five minutes on the floor, but the Penguins were not needing many offensive rebounds in the half as they shot 53.8% from the floor and even shot over 85% from the free throw line, a recent sore spot.  Kendrick Perry and Ashen Ward had eight points each in the half. Valpo got 11 from Brandon Wood and struggled from the charity stripe shooting 7-18 (38.9%) but stayed in the game thanks in part to an 18-10 rebounding edge.

In the second half, Valpo tied the game for the first time all night at 43 apiece with 15:06 left in the game.  Eargle was fouled with 14:17 remaining and hit a pair of free throws to give YSU a 47-46 lead.  Perry (above) hit a short runner in the paint with 12:49 left in the game to extend the Penguins lead to 52-47.  YSU pushed the lead to 56-49 on a 20-foot Perry jumper on the baseline with 10:45 left.  Vytas Sulskis nailed a three from the corner to push the Penguins lead to eight, and the home team smelled another upset brewing.

Valpo took a timeout with 9:01 remaining when DuShawn Brooks received a nice feed from Perry to push the lead back up into double digits at 63-53.  However, Wood picked Perry’s pocket and went the length of the court for a layup to pull the Crusaders to 63-59 with 8:18 left.  Eargle picked up a couple of cheap fouls in the span of a minute giving him four with 7:43 left in the game forcing Coach Slocum to sit the shot-blocking specialist.

With YSU ahead 66-65, Wood hit a three to give the Crusaders a two-point lead.  Another Valpo bucket with 4:52 left in the game gave the Crusader their biggest lead of the night at 70-66.  Sulskis hit one of two free throws with 2:54 left in the game to bring YSU to within two at 70-68.  Dan Boudler was fouled with 1:30 left but could only hit one of two.  Valpo had a 70-69 lead with 1:01 left in the game and the ball when Boudler blocked a shot and got YSU the ball back with 38.4 seconds left in the game.

YSU had chances in the last 38 seconds.  Perry lost his dribble and fell, but the Penguins managed to tie the ball up to keep possession thanks to the arrow pointing toward the Youngstown State bench.  With 11.3 seconds left in the game YSU got Sulskis a 1o-foot baseline jumper that spun around the rim but wouldn’t fall.  Ryan Broekhoff was fouled and hit one of two to push the lead to 71-69 with 6 seconds left.  Kendrick Perry got the inbound, dribbled the length of the floor and hit a 15-footer thanks to a friendly roll to force overtime.

In the extra five minute period, Youngstown State drew first blood when Ward connected on a clutch three to put YSU ahead 74-71 with 3:41 left.  Cory Johnson hit a reverse layup to cut the YSU lead to 74-73.  Sulskis (above) then drew a blocking foul to go to the line where he hit both charity tosses to increase the Penguin lead to three.  Wood was fouled on a drive and got to the line for Valpo where he nailed one of two.  Wit YSU ahead 76-74 with half of the overtime gone, Sulskis threw an errant pass and then fouled out trying to draw a charge.

Broekhoff hit a three to give Valpo a brief 78-76 lead and YSU responded with an Eargle basket to tie the game with 1:27 left in the contest.  Johnson hit a short range shot off of the glass to put Valpo ahead 80-78.  With 50.4 seconds left Broekhoff was fouled but missed both shots.  YSU trailed 82-78 with 18 seconds left.  Perry fired a three that missed the mark and Eargle picked up a quick foul to stop the clock, his fifth.  Wood hit a pair of free throws to put Valpo up six to ice the game.

Youngstown State got 17 points and ten rebounds from Sulskis and 15 points from each Brooks and Perry.  With the loss, Youngstown State dipped to 8-15 and 2-10 in the Horizon League.

A disappointed Vytas Sulskis commented on the crushing loss.  “They didn’t beat us tonight, we beat ourselves with turnovers.  We played hard, but we have to get better and not give games away.”

Valpo got a great effort from Wood, who finished with 31 big points for the Crusaders who improved to 17-7, and 9-4 in the Horizon League.  Broekhoff hit for 11 points and gathered 14 rebounds for the visiting team.

Butler comes to town once a year, like Santa Clause.  Youngstown State fans may like Christmas, but this whole Butler thing was turning into a major headache.   The Penguins were not intimidated by history or record and found a way to claw back from an eight-point deficit to put up a dramatic 62-60 win over Butler.

In the first half, Youngstown State did all they could to keep the Bulldog offense to a minimum.  In fact, the Penguins held a first half lead behind a ten-point effort from Damian Eargle.  Butler got nine points in the opening half from Andrew Smith and six from Shelvin Mack, but Youngstown State went into the locker room with a 25-22 lead.

In the second half, YSU came out and immediately hit a pair of three-point shots to open the lead to 31-22, their biggest lead.  Butler nipped away at the margin, but YSU again built the lead to nine with just over 17 minutes remaining.  At that point, Hahn and Mack started making just about anything they were throwing up from long distance.  An alternation of the two Bulldog shooters produced a 57-52 lead with 4:04 left in the game.

YSU showed life and heart clawing their way back from eight down, capped off when Kendrick Perry hit a big three with 20.9 seconds to go in the game giving YSU a 62-60 lead and driving the crowd of about 3,000 into a mad frenzy.  Eargle was fouled on an inbound with 6.1  seconds left but neither team was in the bonus.  Youngstown State inbounded again and fouled Blake Allen with 2.2 seconds left, allowing the Penguins to have a chance to win this game from the free throw line.  Allen missed the front end of the one-and-one, but Butler threw the rebound away.  Ashen Ward was fouled with 1.6 seconds left in the game and Ward had the chance to ice the game for the upset.  Ward could not connect, but Butler could not get off a quality shot.

Butler lost their third in a row and fell to 14-9 and 6-5 in the Horizon League.  The Bulldogs got 18 points from Mack and 12 from Matt Howard (above).  The Bulldogs lost valuable ground to Cleveland State in the chase for the Horizon League title.

Youngstown State got a big game from Eargle who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.  K Perry ended up with 14, and Allen had 11.  Also to be noted, Ashen Ward’s nine points were clutch.  The Penguins improved to 8-14 and 2-10 in the league.

Coach Jerry Slocum commented on Eargle’s performance.  “All of the guys played great and really showed heart.  Damian [Eargle] had a tremendous game.  He guarded both of their big guys and really showed progress from the beginning of the year when he was getting thrown around.”

“I am so proud and happy for our kids. We have been in close games all year and in this one we showed some toughness and didn’t buckle.  Butler is the prominent team in this league and they have great talent and a great coach.  It’s one of our biggest wins since I have been here and I really couldn’t be prouder”, remarked Slocum after the upset win.

YSU hosts Valparaiso on Saturday at 7:05.

Detroit had about three centers, YSU had one (Dan Boudler), and sometimes Damian Eargle who is more of a power forward.  As a result of a serious problem with height, rebounds, especially on the offensive end would be scarce.  The Penguins overcame the size disadvantage but were their own worst enemy at the free throw line again finishing the game 6-14 from stripe as they dropped another close one, this time to Detroit, 73-69.

In the first half, Detroit raced out to a 10-point lead just over five minutes into the game.  YSU would keep cutting into that lead only to see Detroit extend the lead back to at least seven a couple of times.  By the time the buzzard sounded, Detroit held a 41-40 lead.  Eli Holman paced the Titans with nine points and nine rebounds.  Chase Simon and Chris Blake had ten each in the opening half for the visiting Titans.  YSU got 12 points from Blake Allen and eight more from Kendrick Perry.

In the second half, YSU came out smoking and nabbed a 48-43 lead with 15:49 to go.  Vytas Sulskis led the charge for the Penguins with a couple of buckets.  Blake hit a layup to give Detroit back the lead on an 8-0 run at 49-48 with 14:31 left.  Blake Allen gave YSU a one point lead, the eighth lead change in the game, to put the Penguins ahead 58-57 with 11:15 remaining in the contest.  Chris Blake popped his career high (16 points) with 9:27 remaining for Detroit, putting the Titans ahead, 61-58.

YSU was struggling at the free throw line.  With 8:23 left in the game, the Penguins were an awful 3-10 from the charity stripe, points they need to beat the bigger Titans.  Detroit would battle over the next five minutes to maintain the lead and at the 3:56 mark, the Titans still held a 66-64 lead thanks in part to the Penguins lousy free throw shooting and some equally lousy officiating.  YSU had three very questionable calls go against them over he span of two minutes, and the 3,000 + in attendance really let them know.

Trailing 67-64 with 3:09 left in the game, Tre Brewer took a good shot that hit every part of the inside of the rim, but did not go.  Perry then hit a pair of free throws to cut Detroit’s lead to 68-66.  Perry’s second three of the game came with 18.4 seconds remaining and cut Detroit’s lead to one point at 70-69. Nick Minnerath was fouled to shoot a pair of free throws with 15.5 seconds to go and he made the second to make it 71-69.  Perry tried to hoist a three, but was unsuccessful.  YSU fouled Blake and the rest is academic.

YSU was lead by Allen and Sulskis with 15 points each.  The Penguins dropped to 7-12 on the season, and 1-7 in the league.  With the exception of Butler and Valpo, YSU has been in every league game until the end.  Having seen each Horizon League team with the completion of this game, no one will be writing off YSU as an easy win in the second half.

Detroit got 20 points from Chris Blake, his career-high.  Simon also contributed 14 points for the Titans.  With the win, Detroit improved to 11-10 and 5-4 in the Horizon.

Youngstown State goes West to Illinois for games against UIC and Loyola this week.

After the game, Coach Slocum talked about the woes that hamper his squad.  “We just aren’t good enough yet to win those close games.  It is very disappointing to work so hard all of the time and not reap the reward of winning.  This was a very tough match up for us because of the size difference, but I thought we did a great job battling and working hard.”

In a must-win game for both teams, Youngstown State needed a win to prove that it belonged in a conference.  Wright State, coming off of a 69-63 win over Butler, needed a win to prove superior in the same conference.  When it was over,  YSU (7-11, 1-7) was winning for a majority of the game, at times by as many as ten, but the team competing for a championship came out on top on this night, 66-62.

“We turned the ball over and we didn’t make shots”, was pretty much all Coach Jerry Slocum had to say after this game.

The Penguins came out fired up scoring the first five points.  Wright State would answer and take a 6-5 lead.  The rest of the opening half was nip-and-tuck and the Penguins forged ahead for a 28-24 halftime lead.  Ashen Ward hit a couple of threes and a couple of twos for ten first half points to lead YSU.  Wright State got eight from N’Gai Evans and seven from Vaughn Duggins.

In the first half, Damian Eargle blocked a shot to become the second player in Youngstown State history to record 50 blocks or more in a single season.  Eargle finished the game with xx points and xx blocked shots.  Eargle joins Ricky Tunstill in the blocked shots hierarchy at YSU.

The beginning of the second half looked like the start of the first half.  YSU opened up with a 5-0 run to open a 33-24 lead.  Wright State took a timeout and then unleashed AJ Pacher.  Pacher hit a couple of threes to keep Wright State close.  At the 13:23 mark of the second half, the Raiders pulled within one at 41-40 until Vytas Sulskis nailed a three to make it 44-40.  Devonte Maymon then tacked on another three to make it 47-40 with 11:32 remaining.

Sulskis commented on the disappointment of this loss afterwards.  “We didn’t finish.  Four points over the final six minutes is ridiculous and we know we are better than that.”

YSU pushed the lead all the way to nine points with 8:15 left in the game at 53-44.  Every time Wright State would score a bucket or two, YSU was able to respond.  Tre Brewer had previously scored six points in three separate games, hit his ninth point, a free throw, to help the Penguins to a ten point lead at 58-48, biggest lead for either team in the game.  Wright State would chop that lead in half, and with 5:39 left in the game, YSU was ahead 58-53.

The Penguins lead was carved to just one point at 60-59 with just under three minutes left in the game.  Sulskis hit a runner down the lane to increase the advantage to three points.  Troy Tabler kissed one off of the glass to give Wright State their first lead of the second half at 63-62 with 1:11 left.  Eargle missed both free throw attempts after being fouled to keep the Raiders in front.  The Penguins then had a couple of wild looks that they could not convert.  A pair of Tabler free throws put Wright State up three, 65-62 with just 26.2 seconds remaining.

Youngstown State got a good all-around effort from Ward.  The junior from Cleveland finished this game with 12 points and battled for six rebounds.  Eargle played a great defensive game and increased his Horizon League lead in the blocked shot category with six swats and Devonte Maymon chipped in twelve more.

Wright State got 10 points from Evans, and another 10 from Duggins.  Pacher finished the game with three successful long-distance rainbows.

Youngstown State University seems to play well but come up just a bit short when playing quality opponents.  The Penguins did well at North Carolina State, and more recently, at Butler.  Cleveland State brought their 15-3 record to Youngstown, and the Penguins would once again play the underdog and take swings at Goliath.  Norris Cole again torched the Penguins, this time for 21 points, and guided the Vikings to a 61-51 win.

The first half was defense-oriented.  Neither team shot real well as YSU only shot 21% (6-28) and Cleveland State shot 28%.  Both teams committed 11 turnovers and neither team shot more than five free throws.  The Vikings held a 21-14 lead at intermission, which was their biggest lead of the half.  Jeremy Montgomery and Norris Cole, a couple of guys who seem like they have been playing at Cleveland State since 1997, had seven points each.  Youngstown State got seven points and five rebounds from Damian Eargle, who played well at both ends of the court.

Once the action resumed, both offenses showed signs of life.  With Cleveland State ahead 27-15, Youngstown State went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to five points with 15:57 to go in the game.  Cleveland State’s Trevon Harmon and YSU’s Vytas Sulskis then took turns scoring for a few minutes.

Cleveland State then went on a 14-0 run to open their lead to 46-29.  The Penguins got a three from Devonte Maymon to end the run with 11:46 left in the game, but still trailed 46-32.  Maymon hit another three with 8:56 left in the game to cut the score to 46-37, but Cleveland State regain their bearings and full-court pressure was causing Youngstown State to commit a few turnovers in the last ten minutes.

Eargle hit a bucket and got fouled with 4:50 left in the game to but could not convert the charity toss, keeping YSU down by an even ten points.  Norris Cole threw the Vikings on his back hitting a couple of game-defining shots to keep YSU safely at an arms length.  A weak reach foul on Sulskis with 1:56 left in the game sent him to the bench for the night.  Sulskis finished with nine points.

With the loss, YSU dropped to 7-10 and 1-6 in the Horizon League.  Cleveland State improved to 16-3 with the win and may be peeking into the Top-25 soon.

Cleveland State got 21 from Cole and 12 from Montgomery.  Youngstown State was paced by Eargle who finished the game with 20 points and 8 rebounds.  Maymon also chipped in with 9.

After the game, Coach Slocum pointed out the major difference in the loss.  “We shot 54% in the second half, they shot 37% in the second half, and we lost by ten.  The free throw shooting tells the tale.  If we can’t make free throws, we can’t win the game.  In the second half we really executed well, but we still need to make free throws, they were the difference.”

Youngstown State University was coming off of a tough road trip.  The Penguins traveled to Valpo and Butler and lost both games, one a blowout and the other a nail-biter to the NCAA runner-up Bulldogs.  The cure for that kind of hangover came in the form of a tiny little-known school called Wilberforce.  The Bulldogs came to Youngstown struggling, and giving up boat loads of points in their losses. Youngstown State had little trouble and coasted to an 86-51 win.

In the first half, Youngstown State, not used to having any kind of size advantage, enjoyed playing the role of “big” for a change.  Usually the Penguins are outsized in the paint.  Damian Eargle, who leads the Horizon League with 2.9 blocks/game had a pair of rejections in the first two minutes.  In fact, YSU enjoyed 12 first half offensive rebounds.  The Penguins held a comfortable, but not overly-impressive, 39-26 lead at the intermission.  Eargle lead the way with 11 points in the half.  Devonte Maymon also had nine points.

By the 10-minute mark of the second half, YSU enjoyed an advantage of superior athleticism and a 65-34 lead.  This was when the game should have went to a continuous clock, like a pee-wee football game that gets out of control.  Wilberforce had cut the lead to twelve in the second half, but got no closer.

So was it the kind of game YSU needed at this stage of the season?  Absolutely.  From a “gather your senses and build some confidence”, standpoint, it was the kind of matchup to let Youngstown State know that they can dominate someone.  However, the intensity surely was absent, especially in the first half.  Cleveland State rolls in on Saturday and this public service announcement win will be better verified at about 10 P.M. Saturday.

Eargle (above) sat out much of the second half and finished the game with 16 points and nine boards.  Maymon knocked in 15, and Kendrick Perry had a double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds.  The Penguins finished the game with every player scoring except Tre Brewer.  Youngstown State finished the contest with a 61-39 rebounding edge.  The school record for rebounds in a game is 62.

For Wilberforce, I suppose the opportunity to play a Division-I program is a thrill.  Tough night for the little school.  Darius Foster paced the Bulldogs with 15 points and six rebounds.

After the game, Jerry Slocum talked about the win.  “We worked on sharing the ball.  I think our guys have been doing a really good job on the glass, even this past road trip where we lost a couple of games.”

Kendrick Perry talked about the wide-open feeling.  “It was different tonight.  Because we run a motion offense, we got a lot of good looks.”

Sophomore Blake Allen scored a career-high 17 points and sophomore Damian Eargle added 15 points with eight rebounds and four blocks, but the Youngstown State men’s basketball team dropped a 79-55 decision to Valparaiso on Friday evening at the Athletics-Recreation Center.

The Penguins fall to 6-8 overall and 1-4 in the Horizon League while the Crusaders improve to 11-5 overall and 3-1 in the Horizon League.  Allen connected on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor and converted 5-of-6 of his 3-point field goal attempts, including four treys in the second half.

After falling behind 15-5 in early in the first half, the Guins used their own 15-5 run to knot the game at 20-20 after a 3-pointer by junior Ashen Ward with 5:15 to go before halftime.  After a 3-pointer by Valparaiso’s Jay Harris, Eargle hit a jumper to cut the Crusaders’ lead down to one, but Harris drained another 3-pointer to put Valpo up four, 26-22, with 4:15 to go.

The Crusaders pushed its lead by to eight points, 34-26, but a free throw by Ward and another jumper by Eargle trimmed the deficit to five, 34-29, at halftime.  Valparaiso opened the second half on a 20-4 run over the first seven minutes to take a 21-point lead, 54-33, with 13 minutes left.

Allen hit three 3-pointers over the next minute-and-a-half and junior Devonte Maymon made a layup to cut the Crusader lead to 12, 56-44, with 10:34 to go but the Guins would get no closer.

The Penguins visit Butler, Sunday, Jan. 9, at 2 p.m. at Hinkle Fieldhouse.

Youngstown State University had just ended 2010 on a high note with a dramatic win over UIC.  Then something happened, 2011 showed up, and so did Loyola.  Unfortunately, the Penguins struggled on both ends of the court in a very lethargic performance to open a new calender year and lost to the Ramblers, 83-53, to drop to 1-3 in the Horizon League.

In the first half, Youngstown State seemed a step slower on the offensive end and at least two steps slower on defense.  Loyola shot 63.6% from the floor, while the Penguins could only muster 32%, including 1-8 on three-pointers.  Loyola opened a seventeen point lead within the first ten minutes of the first half and maintained that margin coasting to a 40-22 lead at intermission.  Tre Brewer had a team-high six first half points for YSU, which just seemed out of sync the entire half.  Ben Averkamp posted 13 first half points for the Ramblers.

The second half started much the same way that the first half ended.  Loyola was ahead 49-26 with 15:58 in the game when DuShawn Brooks did what he could to keep the Penguins in the game hitting a jumper from the top right side of the key.  As luck would have it, the Penguins ran into a buzz saw.  With 13:31 left in the game, Loyola had a 56-31 lead, but more importantly, they were shooting 67.7% in the game to this point.  When a team shoots greater than 55%, they are hard to defeat.  With Youngstown State gasping for straws on offense, they would have had to keep Loyola at bay on the defensive end, but were unsuccessful with either side of that two-fold game plan.

Frustration was evident in the second half.  Vytas Sulskis fouled out with just under ten minutes left in the game.  The Penguins were trying, but were also committing hard fouls and playing out of their comfort zone.  With 6:51 left in the game, YSU was simply playing for respectability and pride.  Loyola was ahead 71-43.  YSU got a decent second half from Brooks who played hard on both ends.  Coach Slocum threw up the white flag with about five minutes left when he emptied the cupboard and let some of the low-minutes guys get some experience.

Brooks (above) was top scorer for YSU with 13.  Damian Eargle also scored ten points and gathered five boards in the loss.  Josh Chojnacki contributed a career-best seven points for YSU.  The Ramblers got 18 points from Walt Gibler and 17 from Averkemp.  Loyola shot over 60% from the floor as a team.

After the game, Jerry Slocum called the performance “one of the worst losses I can remember.”  Slocum also went on to say that the Penguins showed little heart and character in the loss.  “The energy was bad today, and we got outplayed badly.”

Loyola Coach Jim Whitesell was surprised at how easy the win came.  “Usually when we play here, the games are donnybrooks and go down to the wire. I feel for Jerry, I was just there the other night against Cleveland State.  We challenged our big guys [Averkamp, Polka, and Gibler] to step it up and they responded.”

YSU heads off to Valpo and Butler before returning home to face Wilburforce on January 11.

Youngstown State returned home to play a game a few days after being trounced by Robert Morris, 90-60.  To make matters worse, one of the team leaders, Ashen Ward, would be inactive with back spasms.  The Penguins last played Malone in 1963, and won that game 117-81.  Monday night, parody showed 50 years of progress and the Penguins didn’t post such a lopsided number, but managed to win the game behind stellar efforts from Vytas Sulskis and Damian Eargle.

The first half saw a sluggish Penguins team establish their presence inside.  Only four Penguins managed to score in the first half. Damian Eargle and Vytas Sulskis combined for 25 of the Penguins 33 first half points.  The other two Penguins to get any points in the opening half were Tre Brewer with five, and Dan Boudler contributing three.  Malone held their ground and trailed by only two at the intermission with the score YSU 33, and Malone 31.

Coach Jerry Slocum was handed a pretty cheap technical foul (below) with 6:31 left in the first half to help Malone stay in the game on a four-point swing.  Malone was paced by Eric Coblentz’s 12 in the opening half.

Coblentz gave Malone a 41-39 lead when he buried a three for his twelfth point as the Pioneers, who shot 45% from long distance in the first half stayed red hot.  Eargle responded with a bucket giving him 16 points, a new career high, to tie the game at 41 with 15:49 left in the game.  Sulskis and Eargle continued to propel the offense which pushed the lead to five with 12:00 remaining.  Sulskis hit a thunderous running dunk off of the right baseline to force the Pioneers to use a timeout to regroup.

Eargle was a man possessed and created problems for the Pioneers all night long.  He was blocking shots, making passes, and scoring. Sulskis hit his season-high 20th point to put YSU up 57-51 with 9:45 left.  The pesky Pioneers were surviving behind the arc hitting 50% for the game to this point.  YSU held a 64-54 lead with 7:53 remaining in the game.

The Penguins took their largest lead of the game with 6:11 left when Blake Allen hit a free throw giving YSU a 12-point lead with 6:21 left at 67-55.  DuShawn Brooks was starting to feel it hitting his second three of the night and recording his eighth point to push the Penguin advantage to 14.

Sulskis (above) finished the game with 25 points, one short of a career high on 10-12 shooting.  He also gathered nine rebounds.  Eargle would have his best all-around game as a Penguin.  Eargle finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, posting his first double-double of the season.  Eargle and Sulskis were virtually everywhere and played scintillating basketball.  Tre Brewer also recorded a career-high in both points (13) and rebounds (14).

Eric Coblentz played very well for Malone and finished with 21 points.

With the win, YSU improved to 5-4 on the season, but more importantly, seemed to pick up the pieces after a disastrous road trip in preparation for North Carolina State and Kent State in the immediate future.

Coach Jerry Slocum was reflective on his team’s effort.  “We got past the shackles of a hard loss and ran a lot of motion.  We played very well and regrouped.  That road trip we just came off of, every one of those teams did well in tournaments last season.  Heading to NC State and playing an ACC team will be tough, but I feel Kent State has their best team this season.  They will both be very hard games for us.”

Vytas Sulskis reflected on the night.  “Me and Damian are roommates and we had good chemistry going tonight.  We were finding each other and it wasn’t planned, it just worked that way.  I was hot tonight.”

Slocum praised the efforts of both Sulskis and Eargle as well. “Vytas played really well on both ends of the court tonight.  He and Damian toughened up on defense and we found a way to get into a rhythm in the second half.”

The new-look Youngstown State University basketball team welcomed another MAC team to Beeghly Center Wednesday.  Toledo came into this game 0-5 and was searching for answers.  The Rockets left Youngstown scratching their heads, and Coach Jerry Slocum picked up his 632nd career victory.  The Penguins remained undefeated at home and improved to 3-1 on the young season with a 73-67 win over Toledo.

Youngstown State looked sharp at times in the first half, but also looked rough during stretches.  Coach Slocum talked about what he expected out of the gate tonight.  “We had a tough loss the other night, and I was really anxious to see how this team would respond to a tough loss.”  True, it was a bit sluggish, but when this team gets going, they are a force.

Vytas Sulskis showed no ill effects of a hyperextended knee suffered at Akron.  Sulskis hit three times from long distance and finished the first half with 11 points and four rebounds and would finish the contest with 20 points for YSU.  However, the Penguins trailed the Rockets 34-33 at intermission.  Toledo got nine first half points from Malcolm Griffin and the Rockets out-boarded the Penguins 21-14 in the opening session.  Griffin finished the game with 18 points.

In the second half, Sulskis continued to score as he hit two free throws with 14:14 left in the game to put YSU ahead 45-43.  Toledo cut the lead to one when Zack Leahy hit a trey to make it 47-46.  Richard Wonell gave the Rockets a three-point lead with just over twelve minutes remaining with an easy bucket in the paint that made it 50-47, Toledo.

Damian Eargle tied the game at 52 and was fouled on an offensive rebound put back attempt on the Penguins next possession.  Eargle hit one of the two and then scored his fifth consecutive point on a nifty reverse layup.  Eargle made it seven straight points the next trip up the court, and there was no doubt that the Warren G. Harding grad was in the zone.  The Penguins would ride the hot hand of Eargle to take a 57-54 lead with 8:23 left in the game.  Devonte Maymon hit a pair of free throws to extend the YSU lead to 59-54 with 7:49 left in the game.

Eargle was dominating the game on both sides of the court in the second half.  He was scoring, blocking shots, rebounding (on both sides of the court), and passing.  Eargle finished the game with six blocks, a career-high, as well as 15 points and six boards and commented on how he is approaching this season after being stuck on the bench all of last season.  “I feel like I can get better every game, and I can see myself doing more.  We are really feeding off of the energy of the crowd and it seems like there are a few more people coming each time we win.”

With YSU ahead 65-58 with 3:26 left in the game, Griffin stole a pass and drove the floor for a bucket to cut the YSU lead to 65-60.

YSU kept their foot on the gas pedal with a five point lead and 2:42 left in the game.  Ashen Ward drilled a three with just under two minutes left in the game to increase the Penguins lead to 70-63.  Ward has been the guy who hits the big shot in a couple of instances this season.  Eargle also played a key role in preserving the win with a couple of blocks and rebounds in the waning minutes.  Slocum credited DuShawn Brooks after the game as the “unsung hero” pointing out that Eargle was the recipient of some nice passes from Brooks at the high post.

After the game, Jerry Slocum talked about what he would be thankful for, and it wasn’t a win.  “I am very thankful for my family.  I know that all of this can take its toll and it really gets hard sometimes. My wife and my kids have put up with a lot, and I could not be more thankful than to have such a great family.”

Sulskis left the media room with a big smile on his face.  “Man, is my turkey gonna taste good tomorrow.”